Off the record: ‘Feeder down, hands up’

April 16, 2010

Jim Grisso

“Put your hands up, and take down your bird feeder; you’re under arrest.”

That’s essentially what the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) told an animal/bird watcher when the state agency discovered a Web site showing deer feeding from the guy’s bird feeder.

It wasn’t like the DNRE had pulled off some super sting operation. This man’s Web site, www.SnowManCam.com, gets 15,000 hits daily, according to the Gaylord Herald Times. The site was started by Ken Borton way back in 2003. He lives west of Gaylord in an area known as Wilderness Valley — the name speaks for itself.

His Web site shares with viewers what is described as a streaming Web cam which shows a thermometer, snow gauge, bird feeder and goose and snowman figures in his yard.

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I mean, Mr. Borton’s “violation” is right up there with murder, rape and terrorism. I wonder whether anybody else out there is guilty of the crime of “deer sees your bird feeder, deer is hungry, deer eats from your bird feeder.”

In the lower peninsula of Michigan, if you allow this to happen, you are in violation of the state’s deer baiting/feeding law. The law allows feeding wild birds and other wildlife if done in such a manner as to “exclude” (key word) deer from gaining access to the feed, focusing on areas “frequented“ (another key word) by deer. It was adopted by the legislature after a deer was found in 2008 in Kent County with chronic wasting disease. I understand the reasoning behind the law.

However, my conscience has gotten the best of me. I can’t take it any longer! I plead guilty, your Honor.

In the summertime, we fed the fish in our pond. Heaven forbid, the deer could have been stealing our fish food. (By the way, I’m not a hunter. I wouldn’t kill a flea — well… I might.)

Borton challenged a $205 fine in Otsego County 87th District Court, and, fortunately, he won the first round. Judge Patricia Morse threw out the charges April 8. She called the law “unconstitutionally vague.”

Her ruling, according to a Herald Times story: “This statute as drafted gives no guidance as to where and how to exclude deer from gaining access to the feed.

“This statute as drafted gives no guidance as to where and how to exclude wild animals from foraging near bird feeders. It leaves too much room for selective enforcement,” Judge Morse stated. In other words, the judge seems to be saying this was a case of selective enforcement.

The conservation officer who ticketed Borton “for deliberately feeding deer” testified that without a doubt it is a deer feeding situation. All you bird lovers out there, heed this — the officer gave this piece of advice, according to the Herald Times: “feed your birds, but take precautions to keep the deer away.”

The Otsego County assistant prosecutor who argued the case for the state was quoted: “People of ordinary intelligence can understand the meaning of ‘exclude’ and ‘frequented.’”

I guess that makes me and many of my fellow bird feeders a bunch of dummies.

Otsego County prosecutor Kyle Legel has 21 days from April 8 to appeal. He contends the judge’s ruling leaves no room for enforcement. Unless the decision is overturned, he said, feeding of deer and elk will be allowed in Otsego County. Interestingly, the court hearing was held on April 1.

And what a joke it is.

Jim Grisso was publisher of the Gaylord Herald Times for 40 years before his retirement in 2007. He and his wife, Sue, live near the village of Roscommon on the South Branch of the AuSable River. His column appears periodically. His e-mail address: jgoblue@live.com.